September Now Belongs to BIPOC Vampires: #BIPOCvampday Is Coming!

Last Saturday (May 8th), the inaugural celebration of #BlackFaeDay took place. All across social media, Black cosplayers and other Black creatives shared their takes on fae, ranging from elaborate photoshoots to artwork, and even music.

The hashtag was sparked from a tweet by @maximilli_lo, who’d hoped the hashtag would uplift/push for more inclusivity of dark-skinned folks in the fantasy realm. The event was a resounding success, #BlackFaeDay making it to Twitter’s top 10 trending topics of the day, and it was decided that we should have a fun, Black fae-themed day from now on.

What I love most about hashtags like this is that they always inspire others to come up with new ideas. Such is the case for BlackBettieCosplay, who had participated in #BlackFaeDay over the weekend.

Today BlackBettieCosplay posted about a BIPOC event that they wanted to run in a similar fashion as #BlackFaeDay. In the spirit of continuing to play in supernatural realms, they decided that September should be for the bloodsuckers. That’s right, it’s time for a BIPOC vampire-themed weekend, just in time for the approaching fall season!

Just like #BlackFaeDay, all you have to do to participate is use the hashtag when sharing your work – the hashtag being #BIPOCvampday. This work isn’t limited to costumes. This includes artwork, stories, games, pretty much any and all forms of media to celebrate vampiric BIPOC. Participants can embrace existing vampires or come up with their own original creations.

Event and art by: BlackBettieCosplay

As BlackBettieCosplay says in their post, vampires in current media are lacking diversity. Of course, you can point to a couple of examples (see: the image of the only and only Aaliyah as the vampire queen Akasha), but that’s just it: there are only a couple in comparison to white vampires throughout pop culture. There is still plenty of room for more melanated creatures of the night, and there is never anything wrong with asking for more.

While the event does start on September 18th, BlackBettieCosplay says in their thread that you can feel free to make it a long weekend and start on the 17th. If this is anything like #BlackFaeDay I expect that we’ll see looks before that (folks were sharing previews to their fae looks early) or even after (as folks are still sharing fae looks today).

Whenever you decide to share your work, be sure to use the hashtag #BIPOCvampday!

(Image: Warner Bros. Pictures/BlackBettieCosplay)

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Briana Lawrence

Briana (she/her - bisexual) is trying her best to cosplay as a responsible adult. Her writing tends to focus on the importance of representation, whether it’s through her multiple book series or the pieces she writes. After de-transforming from her magical girl state, she indulges in an ever-growing pile of manga, marathons too much anime, and dedicates an embarrassing amount of time to her Animal Crossing pumpkin patch (it's Halloween forever, deal with it Nook)

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